This invention relates generally to housed bearings and, more particularly, to housed bearings having bearing covers or caps, either for protecting bearing surfaces and lubrication from the environment or for protecting people from the rotating bearing itself.
For polymer bearing housings that are not painted, notches, grooves or slots may be molded into the housings for securing the covers or caps without major problems. Such features are of little detriment to the housing performance with respect to the environment. With such polymer housings, these features may also he machined into the housings without compromising the corrosion performance, since the material itself resists corrosion.
However, an overwhelming majority of housings are made of cast iron, such that the housings require a coating of some kind, e.g., liquid paint, powder paint or electro-coating, to improve their resistance to the environment. Additionally, cast iron housings have limitations associated with cast geometry and precision. Grooves, holes and indentations do not lend themselves to casting and require additional processing and expense.
Current practice involves fastening a bearing cover to a cast iron housing using screws that require pre-drilled holes, machined circumferential grooves in the housing, or precision machined seats to provide a press fit of a metal or polymer cap into the housing. Such machining increases the cost of the bearing housing, may weaken the bearing housing, and may expose uncoated cast iron to the environment, resulting in an expensive and vulnerable housed bearing.
The foregoing illustrates limitations known to exist in present devices and methods. Thus, it is apparent that it would be advantageous to provide an alternative directed to overcoming one or more of the limitations set forth above. Accordingly, a suitable alternative is provided including features more fully disclosed hereinafter.